Ike Hajinazarian is an IU Alumni and first generation American who recently was chosen to be a regional director of communications for the White House. Hajinazarian graduated from IU in 2016 with a journalism degree. While at IU he was a part of The Singing Hoosiers at Jacobs School of Music where he furthered developed his love of singing and performing. In addition, he also had the opportunity to cover multiple visits from then-President Barack Obama to Indiana as a journalism student during this time. Upon graduation, he moved to Texas for a reporting and producing job but after a few months realized it wasn’t the right career for him. While in Texas he joined the Dallas Gay Men’s Choir and once he left his reporting job, they offered him a marketing job there. During this time, he began to think about his future and what he wanted to do with his life. He even decided to begin an intense exercise regimen which eventually would lead him to lose 200 pounds. He  remembers seeing a video that helped him decide what he wanted his future to be. “I remember in January of 2017 seeing a video of people who look like my parents being turned away from an American airport,” says Hajinazarian. That light bulb moment was when he decided he wanted to go into politics. He couldn’t sit on the sidelines any longer. He then applied for grad school and was accepted to George Washington University to study political management.

While in grad school he interned for various senators and representatives in Washington and eventually got a full-time job on Capitol Hill after graduation. While working in Washington Hajinazarian heard that Joe Biden was going to run for president and immediately joined the campaign. “I knew over the years that if Joe Biden were to jump in the presidential race that I was ready to drop everything and go work for him,” says Hajinazarian. Once he joined the campaign, he traveled across the country trying to rally up support for the Biden campaign and once the election results were finalized and Joe Biden was inaugurated, Hajinazarian was hired full-time to work at the White House as a regional director of communications. In this role he updates the American people on how legislation impacts them and meets with journalists on behalf of the Biden administration. Hajinazarian calls it a dream job working for someone he really believes in and doing so in a position that plays to his strengths. “I never thought that I would get to work in the White House. It’s absolutely the honor of a lifetime,” says Hajinazarian.

Hajinazarian discussed at lengths how his time at IU greatly impacted his life and specifically how Singing Hoosiers helped him in life and in his current position.  “There are absolutely times in the real world where we’re under immense time crunches to get big tasks done and Singing Hoosiers really teaches you some of those skills that a lot of other avenues just won’t,” said Hajinazarian. He talked about how his time at IU really set the foundation for the rest of career. While he is temporarily doing his job from home and not The White House due to the pandemic, he is excited to move into his office there once it is safe. While the past few years have been filled with change Ike thinks the best is yet to come